| Ducati Monster S4 This is an '02 Monster I picked up used in '05. I only kept the bike a short while, but it absolutely convinced me that the light but powerful 4-valve Monster is the perfect combination of excellent street chasis and awesome track power for my riding style. |
| 2007 Ducati Monster S4rs In summer '06, we picked up the new Monster S4rs. We added the factory racing/performance package, and wound up with an awesome streetbike. With the 999 Testastretta engine, Ohlins suspension, Brembo brakes . . . .well there just isn't much you can run on the street with this kind of performance and handling. Thanks to Cross Country Ducati of Metuchen for the modifications. Photo: Summer 2007 |
Stu's Motorcycles What I was riding, 2005-NOW
2004 Ducati Monster S4R In early summer 2015, following the "plastic gastank debacle" that affected all the S4rs's, I unloaded mine in frustration. By the end of the summer I came across an '04 Monster S4R . . . 996 engine, and *steel* gastank. I was able, through Ducati's system, to verify that the 11 year old bike had less than 4,000 miles on the odometer. I tracked down the original owner, a London banker who bought the bike new from Ducati of Coventry. In '06 he traded the bike in at the same dealership, and had no idea how it made its way across the pond. But in 2013 an Indiana car dealer saw the bike in California, fell in love with it, and shipped it home. Little did he know the can of worms he was opening, trying to restore this old superbike which sat, and corroded for a decade, to its former glory. After dumping crazy money into it, and not getting it to ever run correctly, he sold it to me (in disgust). By this time it looked horrific, with gold-anodized doodads all over it, the fairing was missing, the seat cowl gone, the timing belts were rubbing against the cylinder walls and burning, the fuel filter was clogged, the throttle potentiometer was malfunctioning, there were electrical shorts . . . and did I mention corrosion? But the engine and transmission had almost no miles on them, and were strong. After a year of working out the bugs, discarding the aftermarket junk, tracking down original parts, I wound up with perhaps the best-running and most fun Monster yet! And I'm still riding it today! A big thanks to Jeff Trimmer at Cross Country Ducati for his expertise and assistance. Photos: Summer 2017 |